Summary: Mrs X complained the Council removed her family’s memorial tree in a crematorium without warning. Mrs X said this caused unnecessary and avoidable distress to the family who visit the site nearly every week. We find the Council at fault, and this caused injustice. The Council has agreed to make a payment to Mrs X.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council removed her family’s memorial tree in a crematorium without warning.
2. Mrs X said this caused unnecessary and avoidable distress to the family who visit the site nearly every week. She said the Council refuses to allow the family to replace the tree or mark the site with a plaque or other memorial. Without this, the site, where her mother’s ashes are scattered, can be very hard to locate now the tree has gone.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered the information and documents provided by Mrs X and the Council. I spoke to Mrs X about her complaint. Mrs X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on an earlier draft of this statement. I considered all comments and further information received before I reached a final decision.
6. I considered the relevant policy, set out below. I also considered the Ombudsman’s published guidance on remedies.

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What I found

What should have happened

7. Families can sponsor a memorial tree at the Council’s crematorium. The Council’s policy about sponsoring a memorial tree says:

“Should the tree be deemed to be beyond reasonable repair due to vandalism or any other cause outside of the council’s reasonable control, the council will endeavour to notify the sponsor/representative prior to its removal.”

What happened

8. Mrs X’s mother sponsored a memorial tree over 40 years ago in memory of her husband, Mrs X’s father. When Mrs X’s mother passed, Mrs X and the family scattered her mother’s ashes at the memorial tree.
9. In summer 2023, the Council removed the memorial tree. Mrs X complained.
10. The Council said it audited its trees in 2021 to make sure they were healthy and not a potential danger to the public. In this audit, the memorial tree was identified as a tree to be removed.
11. The Council accepted it had not contacted the family to notify them it intended remove the tree. It said it was not able to contact the tree’s sponsor or representative because records for that tree were very limited and it had no contact details.
12. The Council accepted that an officer told Mrs X that placing a notice of intent on the tree could make the memorial area look littered. This was the reason a notice of intent was not placed on the tree. The Council acknowledged this was a missed opportunity to contact the family, given the lack of contact details.
13. The Council said its Arbor Team’s professional view was that the tree was at the end of its life. It offered that Mrs X and the family could purchase another memorial tree in a different location.
14. The Council said it should place a temporary notice on memorial trees to be removed if it does not have enough details to contact the relevant family. The Council offered Mrs X £500 to acknowledge her time and trouble and the distress caused.
15. Mrs X then brought her complaint to the Ombudsman.

Analysis

16. Mrs X complained the Council removed her family’s memorial tree in a crematorium without warning. The Council accepted it did not contact the family to warn them it was removing the tree, and did not place a notice of intent on the tree. This is fault, and this fault caused Mrs X and her family injustice, in that it caused unnecessary and avoidable distress.
17. Mrs X wants to be able to plant a replacement tree or erect a small memorial or plaque at the tree’s location. The Council has refused this.
18. The Council explained to the Ombudsman that there is already an oversupply of trees in the location. It said new trees will not survive, and planting a new tree in the location would negatively impact other trees around it.
19. The Council said the following:

“Memorial trees are a living memorial and therefore subject to an end of life, which marks the end of the sponsorship. The Council cannot be expected to provide multiple trees in permanency.”

“Memorial trees are not intended as a permanent marker.”

“The location of ashes scattered within the crematorium cannot be marked permanently and to do so would introduce a precedent the Council could not maintain.”

20. The Council said other memorial trees have had to be removed due to ill health and damage. It said the sponsors of each of these trees requested a replacement tree, which the Council also refused.
21. I accept the Council’s reasons why it is not possible or feasible for a replacement tree to be planted in that location, or for a permanent memorial to be placed there. For this reason, the Ombudsman cannot achieve the outcome Mrs X wants.
22. However, the injustice to Mrs X and her family needs to be remedied. Mrs X initially declined the Council’s offer of £500. Mrs X also declined the Council’s offer of another memorial tree but in a different location. The Council has now offered another option. It said:

“An alternative option would be to lift the turf and earth around the site of the original tree and relocate to an area of a new memorial tree, purchased as part of a new sponsorship in the name of a living sponsor.”

23. This is an offer for Mrs X and her family to consider.

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Agreed action

24. I have considered how to remedy the injustice caused to the family. I consider the Council’s offer of £500 is in line with the Ombudsman’s published guidance on remedies which sets out a typical maximum payment of £500 for distress. I consider the maximum amount here is appropriate and proportionate to the level of injustice caused. Mrs X indicates she will now accept this offer.
25. Within four weeks of this decision, the Council has agreed to make a payment of £500 to Mrs X in line with its previous offer.
26. As I have said above, Mrs X can also consider the Council’s option of lifting the turf and earth around the tree’s site and moving it to another memorial tree. This is an option for Mrs X to take up with the Council if she wishes.
27. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above action.

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Final decision

28. I have completed my investigation. I uphold Mrs X’s complaint because I find fault causing injustice. The Council will make a payment to Mrs X to remedy the injustice.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman